The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1887-06-05
SOME NEW BOOKS.



Of Enotand in the Eighteenth Century tAppletonsl
Five-slxths OF these pages are devoted to two
eubjects Of peculiar interest. the one big with
importnnce to tho students OF comparative and
progressive sociology the other OF direct and
decisive bearing on tho most monientous ques-
tion OF contemporary British politics. One OF
the injuries to which the author has ad-
dressed himself has for It's aim to learn how
English people lived hundred years
ago; tho other Is concerned with the
state OF Ireland during tho eyentful
yenrs between tho liberation OF tho Irish
Parliament from the gives of Poynings Act
and the dishonest Vaccinations by which the
Legislative union OF the Kingdoms was &c"
complished We purpose to follow Mr.. Lecky
40 far as 10 indicate some Of the capital points
In his treatment Of those topics We would
merely premise that. while no reader can fail
TO welcome the delineation Of the social and
moral state OF Engllshmen In the closing year
OF tho eighteenth century. no candid American
can help regretting that in the authors ac-
count OF Grattan's Parliament, he should
though presenting the facts upon the wholo
with tolerable fairness. permit himself 10
weave into the texture OF his history comments
too obviously colored by his personal objec-
lions to Mr.. Gladstone's effort to redress tho
iniauitous extinction OF tho Dublin Legislature
90 vast Is the difference. not only in the laws,
conventional standards, and pervuding ideas.
but even In drsss and outward manners, be-
tween the England OF 1880 and the England u
to-day. that we should have felt more strange
and hel,less in the streets OF Westminster at
the former epoch than we should now feel In the
bazaars. we will not say OF Anglicized Cairo.
but OF Damascus or OF Bagdad. we couid
thread in our ordinary gnrb the narrow foot
.tsLa tba In NJ M
without being followed by a hooting crowd, as
were the first men who in the last century ven-
tured to carry an umbrella to protect them from
a shower in the streets OF London, where the
umbrella bearer is to-dr1 ubiquitous. But
this is only one OF ten thousand signs OF the
world wide difference OF the environment In
which we should have found ourselves. Our
position would have been awkward and dis
agreeable enough had we belonged at home,
AZ did some visitors from the American colo
MES, to what would have then been described
as tho upper classes or castles OF society. Far
more desperate and pitiable would have been
our plight had we been poor men, seeking
work and needing food and the shelter OF q
roof. Let US look with Mr. Lecky's help at the
aspects in which the great city OF London
would have presented itself about century
ago to foreigners approaching 1t under those
diverse conditions.
To begin with what would strike the eye. we
should have encountered in the London Of
about century ago q striking diversity and
brilllancy where we now see a monotony and
uniformity OF male attire. The males In those
days. like the peacocks, were the more splen.
did representatives Of their species. which fact
perhaps, coupled with the decidedly superior
position OF males before tho law. had somewhat
to do with the depression Of sexual morality
When Pitt became Prime Minister. in 1884. Eng
lishmen were still q long way of from the
modern simplicity OF masculine Dress though
marked change set In soon afterward. Bu
then you still saw "muffs carried. and higf
heels worn by men OF fashion: the large
gold or amber headed canes OF the physician
and many forms OF wigs" In 1880 the custom
of wearing swords ut social gatherings ant
places OF public resort had only begun to &c
out OF fashion. The poet Rogers could remem
Der when the pyramids OF false hair rose &c
high that, drivln. to Ranelagh with lady. hi
saw her compelled to sit on stool placed or
the floor of the carriage. Tho clergyman al
though since 1850 he had dressed more like {
layman, still wore q garb conspicuously dis
tInctivo. As late as 1778.a Scotchman returning
from the Continent. and carrying in wei
weather an umbrella through the streets
London, was followed by jeering crowd.
It is the era Of Jacobinism and edualit!
in 1893 and 1894 tMr. Lecky in these vol
umes stops on the threshold of this epoch
that marks a complete revolution in Eng
lish dress. 1T was then that the pictur
esaue cooked hat went out OF fashion and was
replaced by the tall hatlimp indeed and col
ored, but OF the same ungraaeful shape which
now prevails. Then, too. the silver buckle wa
EXCHANGED for the ordinary shoe tie muslin
cravats, pantaloons, and Hessian boots CAM
into fashion. and the mode OF dressing the hal
was wholly changed. Like the Roundheads o
the seventeenth century the democrats OF tn
eighteenth century adopted the fashion Of cut
ting tho hair short. and they also discarded q
inconsistent with republican simplicity tina
hair powder which since the abolition Of wig
had been invariably worn by the upper classes
Pitts tax upon hair powder. which was imposed
In 17e5. had considerable effect"
But II is the England OF hundred. not ninet
years ago. with which. for tho moment. W
have to do. As late as ITO such pronounced
Democrat and ugly man as Wilkes wrote to hi
daughter in Paris. asking her to beg Baror
Holbaoh to purchase for him scarlet cloth o
the finest sort and color to make a compet
suit OF Clothes and the most fashionable gol'
buttons for the whole. He Is described by on
OF his friends walking to town from hous
which he had taken at Kensington usually at
tired either in a scarlet or green suit. edge
with gold. In Parliament the variety Of color
ing easily lent itself to party designation. Il
England Fox and his followers wore the but
and blue. which had been the uniform OF Wash
ington. On the other side OF the House the dres
of the Constitutional Club. established in 17s9
consisted of q dark blue frock. large yelloy
buttons, and waistcoat and brooches of whit
kerseymere. The Ministers wore their stars ant
ribbons. and North was habitually describe,
IN debate as the noble Lord with the blue rib
bon. At one period party spirit ran SO hig
that It was carried even into the ordinary dres
ofprivate society. A scarlet waistcoat with golt
buttons was well known to indicate an admire
OF Pitt. and a huff waistcoat q follower OF Foa
and enthusiastic Wing ladies delighted in AZ
pearing with foxes tails as q headdress.
Writing to one OF his friends in 1850, Kin
Ernest of Hanover communicates some curiou
recollections of his boyhood whom he live
In England as Duke Of Cumberland. "
maintain" he says, that the first chang